If you work in the law and you are a woman then we need to connect

PROMOTION OF WOMEN

The promotion of women to senior positions in the legal profession is of keen interest to AWLA. The retention and advancement of women lawyers is also a key issue in the broader legal community – with NZLS reporting that while approximately 61% of people working in firms with more than one practitioner are women, women make up less than 31% of partners or directors in those firms.
Visibility of the proportion of women in partnership across a range of firms is an important part of drawing attention and accountability to the progress that is or is not being made to address this inequity.
For this reason, AWLA has compiled information about the proportion of women partners across a range of firms, and their promotion in recent years, in the below table.
The first version of this table was published in 2020, and reflected a breakdown of promotions since 1 January 2015. This is now our fourth iteration of this table, to reflect a breakdown of promotions since 1 July 2017, and we will keep it updated on annual basis as at 1 July.

Total partnership numbers are based on publicly available information on each firm’s website. To reflect the work firms may have been doing in recent years to promote more women to partnership (either internally or through lateral hires), we have also asked each firm to provide us with information about the numbers of partners promoted since 1 July 2017 and the proportion of these that are women. We have also asked each firm to provide a breakdown of how many partners are non-equity partners, and how many of those are women. Lastly, we have recorded whether each firm is a signatory of NZLS’s Gender Equality Charter. Under the Charter, signatories commit to actively working to increase gender equality and inclusion in senior roles. Further information about the basis of reporting is at the bottom of this page.

We hope that this information is useful to you. From our perspective, it shows that we still have a long way to go to achieve gender parity in partnership in the legal profession, but there is also some good work being done to achieve this goal.

If you have any questions or comments about the information on this page – including any suggestions about other firms you think we should include – please contact president@awla.nz.

Promotion of Women 2023

wdt_ID Firm Total Partners Women Partners % Total Women Partners Total New Partners (Since 1 Jul 2017) Total New Women Partners (Since 1 Jul 2017) % Total New Women Partners (since 1 Jul 2017) % Women Partners that are Non-Equity Partners % Men Partners that are Non-Equity Partners Gender Equality Charter Signatory
1 Chapman Tripp 52 19 37 19 9 47 n/a n/a ✔
2 Minter Ellison Rudd Watts 46 16 35 17 8 47 n/a n/a ✔
3 Bell Gully 48 17 35 20 11 55 n/a n/a ✔
4 Simpson Grierson 45 17 38 13 9 69 n/a n/a ✔
5 Buddle Findlay 47 15 32 18 10 56 n/a n/a ✔
6 Duncan Cotterill 48 15 31 18 10 56 n/a n/a ✔
7 Russell McVeagh 45 15 33 21 9 43 n/a n/a ✔
8 Dentons Kensington Swan 36 13 36 17 8 47 n/a n/a ✔
9 Meredith Connell 35 14 40 29 14 48 40% n/a ✔
10 Anthony Harper 34 8 24 13 4 31 n/a n/a ✔
11 Lane Neave 26 9 35 16 9 56 38% n/a ✔
12 Tompkins Wake 30 14 47 16 10 63 58% n/a ✔
13 DLA Piper 23 8 35 14 6 43 20% ✔
14 Anderson Lloyd 29 13 45 10 7 70 n/a n/a ✔
15 Wynn Williams 28 14 50 14 7 50 50% n/a ✔
16 Hesketh Henry 19 9 47 9 6 67 10% n/a ✔
17 Greenwood Roche 16 6 38 8 4 38 n/a ✔
18 McVeagh Fleming 18 3 17 10 2 20 12.50% n/a ✘
19 Glaistor Ennor 13 7 54 - - 0 80% n/a ✘
20 Martelli McKegg 14 9 64 8 6 75 100% ✔
21 Mayne Wetherell 12 3 25 - - ✔
22 Lowndes Jordan 7 2 29 5 3 60 33% ✔
23 Hudson Gavin Martin 7 1 14 2 1 50 ✔
24 Grimshaw & Co 6 1 17 - - ✘
25 Turner Hopkins 3 0 0 - - - - ✘
26 Lee Salmon Long 5 1 20 - - ✘
27 Haigh Lyon 6 3 50 3 2 67 50% n/a ✘
28 Harmos Horton Lusk 5 2 40 - - ✘
29 Wilson Harle 5 2 40 - - n/a ✘
30 Gilbert Walker 3 1 33 0 0 ✔
31 Rice Speir 3 1 33 3 1 33 ✔
32 Morris Legal 2 2 100 - - ✘
34 Webb Henderson 8 2 25 5 2 40 25% ✔
35 Wotten + Kearney 14 6 43 9 4 44 n/a n/a ✔
36 Denham Bramwell Lawyers 4 3 75 1 1 100 100% n/a N/A
37 James & Wells 8 2 25 3 2 67 66% ✘
Firm Total Partners Women Partners % Total Women Partners Total New Partners (Since 1 Jul 2017) Total New Women Partners (Since 1 Jul 2017) % Total New Women Partners (since 1 Jul 2017) % Women Partners that are Non-Equity Partners % Men Partners that are Non-Equity Partners Gender Equality Charter Signatory

Key:

black 0-19%
red 20-29%
orange 30-39%
yellow 40-49%
green 50-100%
grey Did not respond or declined to participate

Basis of reporting:

  • Total partner numbers are current as at 13 October 2023 as published on firms’ websites or otherwise reported to AWLA.
  • Information regarding promotions since 1 July 2017 and non-equity partnership was received between 11 July  and 13 October 2022 and is current as at receipt.
  • Gender Equality Charter signatory status is current as at 13 October 2023 as published on the NZLS website.
  • Firms are reported in order of size from largest partnership to smallest.
  • Davenports and Harmos Horton Lusk use the name Director instead of partner.  Haigh Lyon uses the name Principal instead of partner.  Turner Hopkins uses the name Director for equity partners and Principal for non-equity partners